While allowing a woman to stay with the man she married with her own choice, the Karnataka High Court warned the woman that what she did to her parents could come back to her through her children.
The High Court bench comprising Justice B Veerappa and Justice KS Hemalekha noted, “Love is blind and more powerful weapon than the love and affection of the parents, family members and the society at large.”
The bench was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by TL Nagaraju, father of the woman who eloped and got married. His daughter Nisarga, an engineering student, married Nikhil who is a driver.
19 year old Nisarga left her hostel on May 13. Her father came to know about her disappearance two days later and suspected that Nikhil had taken her away. Then, he filed a police complaint under Section 363 of the Indian Penal Code.
Nisagra and Nikhil were presented before the High Court and they submitted that they have got married in a temple in Anekal taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The woman told the court that she married Nikhil voluntarily and she is in a sound state of mind and is completely fit.
The bench observed, “Our history reveals that there are parents who sacrificed their lives to the children and the children who sacrificed their life to the parents. If there is love and affection between the two, there cannot be any rift in the family and there would be no question of either children going against the parents or parents going against the children to the Court to protect their rights.”
Karnataka HC bench added, “The peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case clearly depicts that ‘love is blind and more powerful weapon than the love and affection of the parents, family members and the society at large.”
“It is high time for the children to know that life consists of reaction, resound and reflection. What they are doing to their parents today, they will get back exactly tomorrow,” the bench warned the woman.
The bench also quoted Manusmriti and stated, “Even according to Manusmruthi, no person can repay his parents even in 100 years for all the troubles that they go through to give birth to him/ her and raise him/ her to adulthood. Therefore, always try to do whatever pleases your parents and your teacher, because only then does any religious worship done by you will bear some fruit.”
The High Court dismissed the father’s petition while stating, “law may regulate the conditions of a valid marriage, but society has no role to play in determining their choice of partners including the parents. It is well settled that the autonomy of the individual is the ability to make decisions on vital matters of concern to life.”
